INDIANOLA, Iowa — In any collegiate sport, coaches and athletes know wins are hard to come by. The countless hours of practice and preparation don’t always translate into a victory on game day.

Just like any team in the country, the Simpson women’s soccer team knows this to be true. In the past two years, the Storm have a combined record of 8-24-3.

The first five games of the season saw the team earn just one win and four losses. But after the last game against Principia when sophomore forward Taylor Sudmann scored three goals in a 5-2 win, there’s a sense on the team that this year could be different.

What’s different about this year’s team compared with teams in the past?

“I would say the positive energy and the really enthusiastic personalities,” head coach Jill Serafino said. “I think that’s probably going to go a long way throughout the season. They’re a good group. They all get along, so the team chemistry has been there.”

Chemistry is an important key for a team that only has three seniors on a 27-player roster. Where the team lacks in experience, they make up for in energy and enthusiasm.

“Younger players bring a ton of energy,” Sudmann said. “But with such few seniors, I would consider this year and last year building years for us. The three seniors do a great job of being the leaders the team needs.”

Serafino and Sudmann agreed this year could be considered a building year. The goals for this season are mainly focused on continuously making improvements.

“We’re trying to get some more experience so that we can build for the future,” Serafino said.

Serafino mentioned a few of those improvements her team needs to build on throughout the rest of the season.

“We’re working on the attack at this point. Creating some better scoring opportunities and working together as a unit to do that,” Serafino said. “We are trying to stay focused on the things that we can control individually and as a unit.”

Serafino also mentioned maintaining better organization on the field.

Just because this season might be considered important for gaining experience, it doesn’t mean the team won’t have a winning record. With one more win, Simpson matches how many they had a season ago, and the Storm hasn’t even started conference play yet.

The team will compete in their first conference game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at home against Central.